Promoting sustainability competency and self-efficacy in class teacher education

Abstract

There is an urgent need for a global sustainability transition. This change needs to be cultural and transform both our actions and the values on which we base our decision-making. Sustainability transition requires concentrating on future generations as well as on the people teaching them because class teachers have an impact on their pupils' knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes. Therefore, class teachers need new competency to make sustainability transformation in schools happen. Teachers also need to possess a sufficient level of self-efficacy beliefs, as they strongly impact a teacher's ability to manage their job as a sustainability educator. This survey research studied Finnish class student teachers' (N = 166) perceptions about their sustainability competency and self-efficacy in education for sustainable development. Students' perceptions of their sustainability competency were clustered into one weighted sum variable. Three principal components were constructed with principal component analysis (PCA) to describe the students' self-efficacy beliefs in education for sustainable development. A PCA paired with linear hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to explain the variation in students' sustainability competency perceptions. The results indicated that the combined self-efficacy beliefs in teaching values and ethics and systems thinking explained 19.3% of the variation in class student teachers' sustainability competency. As a result, improving class student teachers' self-efficacy beliefs about teaching ethics and values and systems thinking in the Finnish context can improve their sustainability competency and vice versa. To promote the sustainability competency of class student teachers, it is necessary to be aware of this connection when developing class teacher education.

Enhancing Sustainability Teaching Competence in Preschool Teacher Education Using Living Labs

“…According to the model proposed by Baumer and Kunder (2013) [26], competence development is facilitated through a context that ensures, amongst others, practical relevance for the planning; implementation and evaluation of teaching about sustainability; the ability to be contextualized in a theoretical framework; and discussion of teachability and learnability of the described outcomes. The model of pedagogical action competence is characterized as a model that reflects a rather narrow understanding of competence, as it is conceptualized as profession-specific (i.e., specific for school teachers) and domain-specific (i.e., PE, science, or SE) [27] (p. 4).…”

“…Preservice teachers' self-efficacy in sustainability education significantly affects their ability to teach about sustainability in class. A study by Karvonen, Ratinen, and Kemi (2023) [27] found that self-efficacy beliefs, particularly in teaching values, ethics, and systems thinking, are crucial for enhancing preservice teachers' sustainability competency. The study emphasized the interconnectedness of self-efficacy beliefs and sustainability competency, advocating for a focused approach in teacher education that addresses both these aspects.…”